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A  i  T  H  0  R 


KING,  THOMAS 


TITLE: 


REASONS  FOR  EMBRA 
CING  THE  DOCTRINES, 


PL  A  CE : 


PHILADELPHIA 


DA  TE : 


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Uevlsed  Series,  No.  33 


REASOiNS  FOR  EMBRACING 


THE 


TIMS  OF  THE  NEW  CliyilCI 


I 


) 


H 


AS  CONTAINED  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF 


EMANUEL    SWEDENBORG, 


BY 


REV.  THOMAS    A.  KJNG, 

PASTOR   OP   THE   NEW   CHURCH   IN   BALTIMORB,   HARTLAiTD 


•^/,^/ 


I 


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^PHILADELPHIA: 

AMERICAN  NEW  CHURCH  TRACT  AND  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY, 

Twenty-Secoxd  and  Chestnut  Stuef.ts. 

KEW  CHDRCH  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION,  No.  20  COOPER  UNION,  NEW  YORK. 

BOSTON:  MASSACHUSETTS  NEW  CHURCH  UNION,  169  TREMONT  STREET. 


Printed  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Cojipany,  Philadelpbia. 


/\ 


>*(  •■'^taS«?"^-r*^-  -"''J^^'^^^*^^*'^ 


PUBLISHED    BY 

The  American  New  Cimrcn  Tract  auil  Pnmication  Society. 

DOCTRIIVES    OK   THE    NEW    CHITRCH: 


NO. 
I. 

2. 

3. 
4. 

5- 
6. 


NO. 
I. 
2. 

3 
4. 

5 
6. 

7 
8 


NO. 


WHAT   THEY    TEACH,    AND    WHAT    THEY    DO    NOT   TEACH. 

By  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles. 

T^u     ^^  ^  i5pint:   What  he  is,  and  what  he  is  not. 
Ihe  Divinity  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures:    What  it  is    what  it  is  not 
1  he  Death  of  the  Material  Bodf  Essential  to  Htl^an  HapV  n-s 
Spiritual  Death:    Its  xNature.  Origin.  Delights,  and  Tormems 
1  he  Resurrection  of  the  Soul  from  Spiritual  Death 
1  he  Resurrection  of  Man  from  the  Material  Body  ' 
Heavenly  Happiness:   Its  Principles  and  Means  ofAttainment 
Heaven  a  Society  of  Regenerated  Men  and  Women 

By  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles. 
The  Origin  and  Nature  of  Truth. 
The  Origin  and  Nature  of  Love 
Iruth  the  Light  of  Heaven 
}'u^  JJalure  and  Office  of  the  Holy  Spirit 

he  Divine  Humanity  of  Jehovah  the  Central  Truth  of  Christianity 
'IVust  'n  "he' Lo°d                        '^^  Crowning  Work  of  Redemption 
The  Oil  of  Joy. 
Stumbling  Blocks.  

I»IISCHl.I,AXKOUS    I>I«$COrRSK!$. 


J- 
4- 
5. 


II 
12 


1.  Salvation  Possible  to  all  Men,  by  Rev.  A.  F.  Frost 

"       C^ruTcey^cner'    '""''""  °'  Ecclesiastical   Government,   by   Rev. 

Changes  in  Faith:    Probation  and  Judgment,  bv  Rev.  Oliver  Dver 

What  IS  Swedenborgianism?   by  Rev.  J.  C   Ager 
^     Manna,  by  Rev.  Abiel  Silver  ^ 

6.   I  Loved  Jacob  and  I  Hated  Esau,  by  Rev.  Abiel  Silver 
I  {fill  ^P^'V"^  r^V^f  ^"^'  ^y  ^"^^    Abiel  Silver. 

^K     I      J"'  '^^°C  ^^^  ^'■''  ^''^'■<=y  3"^'  Truth,  bv  Rev.  Chaun'-ev  Giles 
9.  The  Lord  a  Refuge  in  Times  of  Trouble,  b^  Rev.  cL.uncey'G^les 

"  "^  Chaunc^rcLr      ^'^  "^"'^   ^^  ^'^   ^^^^'^  ^^-^^^  ^^^^'hy  Rev. 
,TS^.^.°°K^^  L'^^'  ^y  I^ev.  Chauncey  Giles. 

Rev"  L    p'"'MerTer'  Phenomenon  Explained  and  its  Dangers  Shown,  by 
13    Man's  Ability  the  Measure  of  his  Obligation,  by  Rev.  Chauncey  Giles. 

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UEASONS  FOR  EMBRACING  THE  DOCTRINES 
OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH. 


"  For  the  bed  is  shorter  than  that  a  man  can  stretch 
himself  on  it ;  and  the  covering  narrower  than  that  he  can 
v>rap  himself  in  it.^^ — Isaiah  xxviii.  20. 

Every  truly  intelligent  man  feels  that  we  are  living  in 
a  new  age,  an  age  distinguished  from  all  the  ages  that  have 
preceded  it.  The  men  of  this  age  have  reached  a  point 
in  their  intellectual  development  where  they  stop  and  ask 
the  reasons  the  church  has  to  offer  them  for  the  de- 
mands she  makes  upon  their  faith.  It  is  not  necessary  for 
me  to  say  that  the  reasons  which  have  so  far  been  given 
by  the  church  are  vague  and  unsatisfactory.  Every  intel- 
ligent man  knows  that,  if  there  is  such  a  principle  as  re- 
lidon  in  the  world,  and  if  that  principle  is  from  the  Di- 
vine  Intelligence,  it  must  be  in  harmony  with  mans 
highest  reason.  There  are  men  and  women  everywhere 
who  are  breaking  away  from  all  religion,  not  because  they 
have  no  religious  instincts,  but  because  they  have  be- 
come  too    much    enli2:htened   to   live   any   longer   with 

.0^     .  343557  3 


i 


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4  REASONS   FOR   EMBRACING 

their  understandings  held  in  subjection  to  a  blind  and 
irrational  faith.     They  feel  that  human  reason  was  given 
to  be  exercised,  and  not  to  be  laid  to  sleep.     Men,  every- 
where, are  beginning  to  feel  this,  and  they  find  that  as 
they  exercise   their   reasoning   faculties  with    regard    to 
matters  of  fiiith,  it  brings  them  into  a  state  of  conflict  with 
all  they  have  been  taught  to  regard  as  sacred  and  true.    I 
have  the  most  profound  sympathy  for  such  persons,  and  to 
such  I  offer,  this  morning,  a  system  of  spiritual  truth  that 
presents  to  the  soul  and  reason  the  Divine  Being  in  His 
essential  character  of  love ;    a  system  of  spiritual   truth 
that  harmonizes  the  statements  made  in  Genesis  with  the 
history  of  the  rocks.    That  shows  the  eternal  and  essential 
harmony  between  Divine  Revelation  and  all  true  Science; 
a  system  of  spiritual  truth  that  solves  all  the  mysteries  of 
the  Divine  Government,  and    that  floods  the  soul  with 
a   licrht  that   increases   in  bri"rhtness  as   man  moves  on 
towards  the  source  of  all  light.     This  system  of  spiritual 
truth  is  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the  seer  of  the  New 
Dispensation,  Emanuel  Swedenborg.     I  am  confident  that 
if  any  man  with  ordinary  intelligence  will  read  the  writ- 
ings of  Swedenbor^:,  he  will  find  a  confirmation  of  all  I 
claim  for  them.     I  have  studied  his  writings  carefully  and 
prayerfully,  and  I  believe  they  contain  the  Lord's  truth, 
revealed  for  the  sake  of  the  New  Church  which  He  is  at 
this  day  establishing,  and  which  in  the  order  of  the  Di- 
vine Providence  is  designed  to  be  the  crown  of  all  the 
churches  that  have   preceded  it.     I  therefore  ask  your 
attention,  while  I  lay  before  you  some  of  the  principal 
reasons  that  have  led  me  to  renounce  the  old  systems  of 
religious  belief  and  embrace  the  doctrines  unfolded  in  the 
theological  writings  of  Swedenborg. 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH.      5 

The  first,  the  central,  and  fundamental  idea  of  all  re- 
licrion  is  the  acknowledgment  of  a  Divine  Being.     With- 
out this  there  can  be  no  religion.    It  being  the  foundation 
truth  of  all  religion,  it  follows  of  necessity  that  the  char- 
acter of  the  reli-ion  will  depend  upon  the  conceptions  men 
have  of  the  Divine  Being,  and  of  His  relation  to  them,  and 
their  relation  to  Him.    Every  science  has  its  leading  foun- 
dation truth,  and  until  clear  ideas  are  formed  of  that  lead- 
in-  truth,  and  the  relation  that  all  the  other  truths  in  the 
scrence  sustains  to  it,  no  correct  idea  can  be  formed  of  the 
science.     Until  astronomers  learned  that  the  sun  was  the 
centre  of  our  solar  system,  and  the  relation  that  all  the 
other  worlds  sustained  to  it,  we  did  not,  and  could  not, 
have  a  correct  system  of  astronomy.     It  is  equally  neces- 
sary  to  a  correct  system  of  theology  that  it  rest,  not  upon 
appearances,  but  upon  a  true  understanding  of  the  Di- 
vine  nature,  and  the  laws  by  which  that  nature  operates. 
We  are  told   by  Swedenborg,-and  it  is  so   reasonable 
that  an  intelligent  man  must  see  its  truthfulness,—"  that 
the  idea  of  God  enters  into  everything  belonging  to  the 
church,   religion,  and   worship,"   and  that  "theological 
matters  have  their  residence  above  all  otters  in  the  human 
mind,  and  among  these,  the  idea  of  God  is  the  principle 
or  supreme,  wherefore  if  this  be  false,  all  beneath  it,  in 
consequence  of  the  principle  from  whence  they  flow,  must 
be  false  or  falsified;  for  that  which  is  supreme,  being  also 
the  inmost,  constitutes  the  essence  of  all  that  is  derived 
from  it ;  and  this  essence,  like  a  soul,  forms  them  mto  a 
body  after  its  own  image,  and  when   in  its  descents  it 
lights  upon  truths,  it  even  infects  them  with  its  own 

blemish  and  error." 

The  doctrine  which  is  taught  in  the  old  tlieology  on  this 


'O. 


6  REASONS  FOR  EMBRACING 

central  and  foundation  truth  of  religion  is,  1.  "  There  is  one 
God,  without  body,  parts,  or  passions,  everlastmg,  of  infi- 
nite power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  the  maker  and  pre- 
server of  all  things  visible  and  invisible.  And  in  unity  of 
this  Godhead  there  are  three  persons  of  one  substance, 
power,  and  eternity,— the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost." 

2.  "  The  Son,  who  is  the  word  of  the  Father,  very  and 
eternal  God,  of  one  substance  with  the  Father,  took  man's 
nature,  so  that  two  whole  and  perfect  natures,  that  is  to 
say,  the  Godhead  and  the  manhood,  were  joined  together 
never  to  be  divided,  whereof  is  one  Christ,  very  God  and 
very  man." 

3.  *'The  Holy  Ghost,  proceeding  from  the  Father 
through  the  Son,  is  of  one  substance,  majesty,  and  glory 
with  the  Father  and  Son,  very  and  eternal  God." 

Such  is  the  doctrine  in  what  are  called  the  "  orthodox" 
churches  with  regard  to  the  Divine  Being.  It  is  needless 
for  me  to  say  that  this  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity  has 
never  given  satisfaction  to  the  thinking  portion  of  the 
Christian  Church.  It  has  been  a  subject  of  mystery,  of 
doubt,  and  denial  ever  since  its  formulation.  Thinkint' 
men  and  women  see  that,  if  each  of  these  alleged  persons 
is  "very  and  eternal  God,"  tritheism  follows,  and  there 
is  no  means  of  escape  from  it.  The  bare  mention  of  this 
tripersonal  trinity  is  subversive  of  all  rational  conceptions 
of  the  Divine  unity.  No  matter  how  much  it  may  be 
qualified  by  discriminating  divines,  it,  nevertheless,  stands 
as  the  virtual  acknowledgment  of  three  Gods.  Men  may 
say  with  their  lips  that  there  is  one  God ;  but  if  they  hold 
to  the  tripersonal  trinity,  they  necessarily  have  in  their 
minds  the  idea  of  three  Gods.     I  reject  the  doctrine  of  the 


'PS 


...'.1 


u 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE   NEW  CHURCH.      7 

tripersonality  of  the  Divine  Being,  because  it  is  unrea- 
sonable and  anti-scriptural.  The  human  soul  intuitively 
reaches  out  after  one  God,  and  the  Bible,  in  harmony  witli 
that  longing,  presents  one  God  to  the  soul.  ''  Hear,  0  Is- 
rael,  the  Lord  your  God  is  one  Lord."  The  Word  of  the 
Lord  most  emphatically  teaches  the  personal  oneness  of 
God,  and  when  I  compared  the  statements  made  in  the 
creeds  of  the  "  old  church"  on  this  subject  with  the  plain 
and  conclusive  statements  made  in  the  Word  upon  the 
same  subject,  I  found  that  there  was  an  evident  con- 
flict between  the  two,  I  saw  that  the  Word  taught  a  three- 
fold distinction  in  the  Godhead,  but  the  thought  of  that 
distinction  being  personal  destroyed  all  idea  of  the  abso- 
lute oneness  of  God  which  I  saw  to  be  taught  all  through 
the  sacred  Scriptures. 

From  the  time  my  mind  began  to  be  exercised  upon 
this  subject  until  I  met  with  the  writings  of  Swedenborg, 
I  was  in  a  state  of  theological  confusion.  I  felt  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  in  some  mysterious  way  a  Divine 
Being ;  but  how  to  reconcile  His  Divinity,  the  Divinity 
of  the  Father,  and  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
Divinities  I  was  taught  to  regard  as  personally  distinct, 
"  each  by  Himself  Lord  and  God,"  with  the  great  truth 
taught  in  the  Word  that  God  was  one,  I  knew  not.  But 
when  in  the  order  of  the  Lord's  providence  I  met  with 
Swedenborg  s  "  True  Christian  Religion,"  a  book  which 
contains  wisdom  well  worthy  the  origin  he  claims  for  it,  T 
found  that  every  doubt  was  removed,  every  question  an- 
swered, and  a  new  direction  given  to  my  thought.  I 
found  in  this  book  the  fulfilment  of  the  Lord's  promise, 
<*  The  time  cometh  when  I  will  speak  to  you  plainly  of  the 
Father."     I  found  a  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity  that  is 


E»?« 


8 


REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 


rational,  clear,  and,  above  all,  thoroughly  scriptural.  Let 
me  give  you  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity  which  I 
found  unfolded  and  logically  taught  in  this  book. 

"  There  is  one  God,  in  whom  is  a  Divine  Trinity  called 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  These  three 
are  distinct,  yet  united  in  Him  as  soul,  body,  and  opera- 
tion are  in  man,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  this  God," 

Here  I  found,  in  harmony  with  the  Scriptures,  a  three- 
fold distinction  in  the  Godhead  recognized  and  taught; 
but  not  a  personal  distinction.  And  just  here,  namely,  in 
claiming  personal  distinctions  in  the  Godhead,  is  where 
the  old  theology  has  made  the  error  that  has  falsified  its 
whole  system.  A  trinity  of  equally  Divine  persons  is 
simply  a  trinity  of  Gods.  But  when,  as  is  taught  in  Swe- 
denborg,  we  see  that  there  are  three  Divine  principles 
which  constitute  the  Divine  Being, — namely,  love,  wisdom, 
and  power, — we  can  see  how  such  a  Divine  Trinity  can 
exist  in  God,  and  we  can  also  see  how  it  would  be  im- 
possible for  it  not  to  exist.  Somewhat  of  a  consistent  idea 
of  this  central  doctrine  of  Divine  Revelation  may  be  formed 
from  a  consideration  of  the  trinity  in  man.  We  are  told  in 
the  Word  that  man  was  made  in  the  image  and  after  the 
likeness  of  God.  It  is  only  through  man  that  we  are  en- 
abled to  form  ideas  of  the  Divine.  To  arrive  at  correct 
conceptions  of  the  Divine  Being  we  must  find  a  perfect 
human  being,  a  man  perfectly  developed  in  all  the  ele- 
ments of  his  mental  and  spiritual  constitution,  a  man  who 
has  been  raised  to  the  sublime  heights  of  celestial  good- 
ness, and  then  intensify  that  character,  lift  it  up  until  it 
ceases  to  become  finite,  and  is  lost  amid  the  altitudes  of 
the  Infinite  Man.  Thus  can  we,  through  man,  ascend  to 
an  understanding  of  God,  who  is  the  archetypal  man. 


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THE  DOCTRINES  OF   THE  NE]V  CHURCH.      9 

We  must  remember,  also,  that  man  is  not  life,  but  sim- 
ply an  organ  formed  to  receive  life  from  God  who  is  life. 
As  an  organized  form  receptive  of  the  Divine  life,  we  find 
that  the  three  essentials  of  the  Divine  life  are  finited  in 
him.     Thus  he  becomes  the  adumbration  of  the  Divine. 
Human  love  is  but  a  finite  form  of  the  Divine  love ;  human 
wisdom  is  but  the  finite  form  of  the  Divine  wisdom,  and  hu- 
man power  is  but  a  finite  form  of  the  Divine  power.     This 
trinity  of  love,  wisdom,  and  power  in  man  is  perfectly 
consistent  with  his  absolute  oneness.     Now  transfer  this 
trinity  of  love,  wisdom,  and  powt?,  or  soul,  body,  and 
operation  in  man,  to  the  Divine  Being,  allowing  of  course 
for  the  diflference  between  the  infinite  and  the  finite,  and 
we  shall  be  enabled  to  see  how  this  trinity  exists  in  God  in 
strict  harmony  with  that  personal  oneness  which  is  taught 
all   through    the   Divine   Word.     Love   is   the   primary 
ground  of  the  Divine  existence,  and  is  what  is  meant  in 
the  Word  by  the  term  ''  Father."    Divine  truth,  or  wisdom, 
being  the  form  of  the  Divine  love,  is  what  is  meant  in  the 
Word  by  the  term  ''  Son."     The  proceeding  life  of  Divine 
love  and  wisdom  is  what  is  meant  in  the  Word  by  the 
term  "  Holy  Spirit."     If  we  think  of  the  Trinity  in  this 
manner,  we  at  once  lift  the  veil  of  mystery  which  has 
huntr  over  it  so  lony;,  and  see  it  in  its  own  rational  light. 
There  is  nothing  transcendental  or  mystical   about  this 
doctrine.     It  is  consistent  with  itself,  and  it  appeals  di- 
rectly to  our  reason  as  a  true  doctrine. 

If  you  will  allow  yourselves  to  think  on  this  subject, 
you  will  find  that  love  is  the  underlying  ground  of  all  ex- 
istence. Thought  is  the  form  in  which  love  clothes  itself, 
and  the  means  by  which  it  comes  forth  into  the  world  and 
exists.     Aff"ection  cannot  exist  without  thought,  nor  can 


I 


^.i 


10 


REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 


thought  exist  without  affection.  They  bear  the  same  rela- 
tion to  each  other  as  the  sun's  heat  and  light.  From  the 
marriage  of  affection  and  thought  in  man  there  proceeds 
a  sphere  which  encompasses  man,  and  is  the  embodiment 
of  both  his  affection  and  thought.  In  harmony  with  this 
obvious  trinity  in  man,  we  can  think  of  Divine  love  as  the 
Father,  of  the  Divine  wisdom  as  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  the  proceeding  life  of  the  two  combined,  existing, 
however,  in  one  person.  It  would  be  just  as  reasonable  to 
predicate  three  persons  of  man,  because  of  the  trichotomy 
seen  in  his  organization,  as  to  predicate  it  of  God  on  the 
same  ground.  But  Swedenborg  not  only  gives  us  this 
reasonable  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Trinity,  he  goes  still 
farther,  and  shows  us  that  Divine  love,  wisdom,  and  power 
are  not  mental  abstractions ;  but  that  they  inhere  in  one 
who  loves,  is  wise,  and  powerful.  When  we  speak  -of 
benevolence,  wisdom,  and  power,  we  must  associate  them 
in  our  thought  with  personality. 

The  old  theology  pretends  to  teach  the  personality 
of  God ;  but  it  immediately  destroys  all  idea  of  God's 
personality  by  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  that  God  is 
without  form  or  bodily  parts.  If  God  is,  He  must  be 
substance,  and  it  is  a  necessity  of  thought  to  associate 
form  with  substance.  The  old  theology  f\iils  to  recognize 
the  truth  that  there  is  a  substance  above  and  distinct  from 
matter,  and  thus  it  presents  a  God  who  is  diffused  through 
the  universe,  which  is  simply  another  form  of  pantheism. 
Our  old-school  theologians  tell  us,  if  God  is  substance  and 
form,  then  He  must  be  localized.  Oh,  into  what  midnight 
darkness  does  the  human  mind  plunge  when  it  is  guided 
by  mere  appearances ! 

Creation  is  an  outbirth  of  the  Divine  love  and  wisdom, 


I 


t 


> 


< 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   THE   NEW  CHURCH.    H 

and  there  is  a  constant  influx  from  the  Lord  into  every 
grade  and  plane  of  His  creation ;  but  He  stands  out  per- 
fectly distinct  as  to  personality  from  His  creation,  just  as 
distinct  from  it  as  the  sun  is  from  the  flower  that  receives 
its  heat  and  light.  Thus  God  is  substance  itself,  form 
itself,  and  personality  itself,  living  at  all  times  in  all  the 
planes  of  His  creation,  and  yet  as  distinct  from  creation 
as  cause  is  from  effect.  Thus  by  the  aid  of  Swedenborg's 
writings,  and  the  light  they  throw  upon  the  pages  of  the 
Divine  Word,  we  are  enabled  to  think  of  the  Divine  Being, 
not  as  an  infinite  abstraction,  not  as  an  omnipotent  force, 
but  as  having  substance,  form,  and  personality,  the  infinite 
man  from  whom  we  derive  the  principles  which  constitute 
our  humanity. 

In  the  great  economy  of  human  redemption  the  whole 
Godhead  comes  into  incarnation.  This  is  recognized  in  the 
second  article  of  religion  in  the  book  of  discipline  for  the 
Methodist  Church.  But,  strange  to  say,  it  is  contradicted 
in  the  first  article  of  religion  in  the  same  book.  The  first 
states  that  in  unity  of  the  Godhead  there  are  three  persons 
of  one  substance,  power,  and  eternity.  The  second  article, 
which  begins  by  styling  Christ  the  second  person  in  the 
Trinity,  concludes  by  saying  that  in  Him  the  Godhead  and 
manhood  were  joined  together.  If,  as  the  first  article  as- 
serts, the  Godhead  and  manhood  were  joined  together  in  one 
person  never  to  be  divided,  whereof  is  one  Christ,  very  God 
and  very  man,  then,  to  be  consistent,  they  must  admit  that 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  were  united  in  Christ, 
since,  as  their  first  article  states,  the  Godhead  comprises 
three  persons.  But  while  the  first  article  is  false,  the 
second  is  true,  though  they  do  not  comprehend  its  mean- 
ing.    The  three  essential  principles  in  the  Godhead  are 


\ 


Ii  '*^»?^'vr   iT*  r  ?!T 


•*^*^     I-    '^'- 


12  REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 

inseparable,  and  in  the  economy  of  redemption  the  great 
Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament  descends  and  becomes  the 
Jesus  Christ  of  the  New.  The  human  nature  which 
Jehovah  God  assumed  as  a  means  of  bringing  Himself 
down  to  the  plane  of  fallen  humanity,  was  begotten  by 

Jehovah  Himself. 

All  life  is  from  God.     Life  is  not  a  creation,  but  an 
emanation  from  God  who  alone  hath  immortality  in  Him- 
self.     The  natural  father  is  simply  an  instrument  in  the 
Divine  hand  by  means  of  which  the  Divine  life  passes 
down  from  God  and  is  clothed  by  the  mother.     Tiic  life- 
principle  comes  through  the    father.     This  life  principle 
passing  from   God    through    a   finite  channel    makes    us 
finite.     Now  in  the  incarnation  of  God  in  our  humanity 
the  natural  father  was  removed,  and  the  Divino  life  came 
down  immediately  from  God,  and  was    clothed    by   the 
mother  with  such  things  as  were  proper  to  her  life,  so 
that  Christ  was  Divine  from  conception,  and  in  His  inner 
and  essential  nature  was  Jehovah  God  Himself.     As  the 
Divine  gradually  descended  into  this  humanity,  it  removed 
all  that  was  finite  and  imperfect  from  the  mother  until  the 
human  and  Divine  were  perfectly  united,  so  that  Christ 
could  say,  "  The  Father  and  I  are  one,"  "  He  that  hath 
seen  Me  hath  seen   the   Father."     The   great  Jehovah 
dwells  in  this  glorified  humanity  as  the  human  soul  dwells 
in  the  body.     The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  thus  God  in  a 
glorified  humanity.     This  being  true,  then  it  follows  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  true  object  of  Christian 
worship,  for  in  Him  is  the  trinity  of  Father,   Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit,  according  to  St.  Paul,  who  says,  "  In  Him 
dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."     All  that 
we  can  know  or  see  of  God  is  in  Christ.     Jesus  Christ  is 


t 


-;*fr 


s 


i 


/ 


THE  DOCTRINES   OF   THE  NEW  CHURCH.    13 

liow  the  form  in  which  God  dwells.  He  is  Emmanuel, 
God  with  us.  ''  He  is  the  true  God  and  eternal  life." 
He  said  to  Philip,  "  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the 
Father;  how  sayest  thou  then,  Show  us  the  Father." 
He  said,  ''The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  I  speak 
not  of  myself;  but  the  Father  that  dwelleth  in  Me,  He 
doeth  the  works."  In  these  statements  our  Lord  taught, 
in  the  clearest  manner,  that  the  Divine  Trinity  is  iu 
Him ;  consequently,  that  He  is  absolutely  and  supremely 

Divine. 

In  no  system  of  theology  outside  of  Swedenborg  s  is  it 
taught  that  the  very  soul  of  Christ  was  God  Himself,  and 
consequently  nowhere  but  in  his  writings  do  we  find  a 
rational  explanation  of  His  Divinity,  and  of  the  Divine 
Trinity  in  Him.  Language  is  inadequate  to  express  the 
feeling  of  delight,  the  deep  thankfulness  of  soul  I  felt, 
when  by  means  of  Swedenborg's  writings  I  was  enabled  to 
sweep  away  the  fogs  of  theological  error,  and  behold  the 
shining  of  a  sun  that  was  far  more  efi'ulgent  than  the  noon- 
day brightness  of  the  natural  sun,  and  by  means  of  its  ever- 
increasing  brightness  to  behold  in  mental  vision  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  "  The  Alpha,  the  Omega,  the  beginning  and 
the  end,  the  first  and  the  last :  who  was,  who  is,  and  who 
is  to  come,  the  Almighty,"  the  God  whose  heart  throbbed 
with  infinite.  Divine  love ;  the  God  who  had  infinite,  Di- 
vine wisdom  to  direct  His  love  ;  the  God  who  had  all 
power  in  heaven  and  earth.  I  am  resting  now  upon  this 
rock,  the  supreme  Divinity  of  Jesus,  and  I  feel  that  the 
gates  of  hell  can  never  prevail  against  it. 

But  seeing  this  doctrine  in  its  transcendent  beauty  was 
but  the  stepping-stone  to  something  else.  I  saw  that  if 
a  trinity  of  Divine  persons  from  eternity  was  false,  then 


49 


«l« 


\ 


14  REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 

the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  ds  held  in  the  "  old  church" 
was  also  false  ;  because  I  saw  that  it  was  based  upon  the 
doctrine  of  the  tripersonality  of  God.     In  order  to  show 
you  my  reasons  for  renouncing  the  vicarious  atonement  as 
it  is  held  and  taught  in  the  old  theologies,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary for  me  to  state  that  doctrine  as  it  is  held  to-day.    The 
atonement  according  to  the  old  doctrine  consisted  in  the 
vicarious  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  on  the  cross,  by 
means  of  which  sacrifice  or  death  in  the  stead  of  the  sin- 
ning race  the  Father  was  appeased,  His  justice  fully  satis- 
fied°  and  the  possibility  of  salvation  established,  the  favor 
of  God  being  purchased  by  the  blood  of  His  only  begotten 

Son.  ,      J       •         f 

Such  is  really  a  correct  statement  of  the  doctrine  ot 

Christ's  atonement  as  it  is  taught  in  the  old  theology  to- 
day. Can  any  man  conceive  how  a  more  God-disgracing 
doctrine  could  have  been  invented  ?  I  reject  this  doctrine 
because  it  is  a  monstrosity,  utterly  unworthy  the  Divine 
Being,  and  an  insult  to  common  sense.  How  can  such  a 
doctdne  be  true  ?  Let  us  give  it  a  little  examination,  and 
sec  how  it  stands  the  test  of  Scripture  and  reason.  "  To 
the  law  and  to  the  testimony  :  if  they  speak  not  according 
to  this  Word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them." 

1.  If  the  three  alleged  persons  in  the  Godhead  are  of 
"  one  substance,  power,  and  eternity,"  as  the  creed  states, 
then  why  should  the  Father  demand  satisfaction,  and 
nothing  be  said  about  the  satisfaction  of  the  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit  f  Why  should  the  Father  have  wrath  to  appease, 
and  nothing  be  said  about  the  wrath  of  the  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit  ?  Why  should  the  Father  demand  propitiation,  and 
nothing  be  said  about  propitiating  the  Son  and  Holy  Spirit? 
Any  rrtional  man  can  see  that  if  the  three  alleged  per- 


t:' 


/ 


< 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH.    15 

sons  in  the  Divine  Trinity  are  of  "  one  substance,  power, 
and  eternity,"  each  "  very  and  eternal  God,"  that  one  can- 
not make  demands  exclusive  of  the  other  two. 

2.  This  view  of  the  atonement  argues  a  reconciliation 
on  the  part  of  God  to  man.  Thus,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  second  article  in  the  book  of  discipline  for  the  Meth- 
odist Church,  we  read  that  "  Jesus  Christ  sufi'ered  and  died 
to  reconcile  His  Father  to  us."  This  statement  is  in 
direct  contradiction  to  Saint  Paul,  who  emphatically  de- 
clares that  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto 
Himself."  If  God  is  unchangeable,  how  could  the  fall  of 
man  affect  Him  or  His  attitude  towards  the  race  ?  Sin  did 
not  work  any  change  in  the  Divine  mind.  He  says,  •'  I 
am  the  Lord.     I  change  not." 

•  3.  How  can  the  suifering  of  the  innocent  atone  for  the 
sins  of  the  guilty  ?     If  a  man  through  the  violation  of 
some  physical  law  breaks  his  arm,  to  punish  some  innocent 
one,  or  break  the  arm  of  another  man,  will  not  set  the  arm 
that  is  already  broken.     It  is  not  possible  to  transfer  the 
o'uilt  of  one  person  to  the  person  of  another.     The  old 
doctrine  of  atonement  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  penalty 
of  sin  can  be  dissociated  from  the  sinning  party  and  trans- 
ferred to  another.     Thus  the  old  doctrine  teaches  that 
Jesus  Christ  bore  the  penalty  due  man's  sin.      But  can 
such  a  doctrine  be  true  ?     Can  I  cut  my  finger,  and  have 
the  pain,  the  penalty  of  that  physical  sin,  transferred  to  the 
finger  of  some  one  else?     We  see  that  such  a  thing  is 
plainly  impossible.     I  stand  and  look  this  doctrine  in  the 
face,  and  from  the  very  inmost  of  my  being  I  reject  it,  be- 
cause it  is  a  libel  upon  God,  because  it  sets  aside  the  plain 
declarations  of  the  Holy  Word,  because  it  is  an  insult  to 
my  reason,  and  contradicts  every  intuition  of  my  humanity. 


< 


> 


^e7^^ 


16 


REASONS  FOR  EMBRACING 


ft 


But  while  I  reject  the  old  doctrine  of  redemption  and 
atonement,  do  not  imagine  that  I  do  not  believe  in  any 
redemption  and  atonement.  I  believe  with  all  my  heart 
in  the  redemption  and  atonement  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  understood,  however,  in  a  very  different 
manner  from  the  above.  When  I  began  the  study  of  Swe- 
denborg's  writings,  I  found  that  man  did  not  sustain  a  mere 
legal  relation  to  the  Lord.  I  found  that  the  Lord  was 
life  itself,  and  that  man  derived  his  life  from  the  Lord  by 
a  constant  inflowing ;  that  he  was  related  to  the  Lord  as 
effect  is  to  cause,  or  as  the  branch  is  to  the  vine,  or  the 
flower  to  the  sun.  T  found  logically  taught  in  his  writino^s 
the  great  truth  that  God's  laws  are  not  the  arbitrary  en- 
actments of  an  arbitrary  monarch,  but  that  they  essentially 
inhere  in  the  constitution  of  man,  and  that  the  penalty  due 
their  violation  is  not  an  arbitrary  infliction,  but  that  it 
follows  as  a  necessary  consequence. 

When  this  truth  was  firmly  fixed  in  my  mind,  and  com- 
prehended in  all  its  bearings,  I  saw  that  the  fall  of  man 
consisted  in  a  gradual  decline  from  his  Eden-state  of  love 
to  God  and  the  neighbor,  into  states  of  self-love,  by  means 
of  which  he  destroyed  the  original  order  in  his  creation, 
and  brought  upon  himself  misery  and  spiritual  death.  I 
saw  also  that  as  evil  men  entered  the  world  of  spirits  that 
men  in  the  natural  world  were  subject  to  their  infernal 
influxes,  which  swept  them  away  from  the  Lord.  I  saw 
how  Jehovah,  by  means  of  the  angels,  kept  Himself  in 
communication  with  the  declining  race  until  man  reached 
a  plane  where  he  could  no  longer  be  reached  through  an 
angelic  nature.  I  saw  that  when  this  crisis  was  reached, 
that  if  some  channel  of  Divine  communication  was  not  es- 
tablished the  whole  race  must  perish.     When  this  truth 


1 


V 


■.  * 


i 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW   CHURCH.    17 

dawned  upon  my  mind,  I  saw  for  the  first  time  the  real 
necessity  for  the  Divine  incarnation.     I  saw  that  hell  had 
approached  so  near  the  human  race,  that  unless  some  power 
should  remove  it  from  man  his  humanity  would  be  de- 
stroyed.    How  could  this  work  be  accomplished  ?     Only 
through  the  descent  of  the  Divine  to  man's  plane.     The 
essential  Divine  could  approach  hell  and  subdue  it  only 
through  the  medium  of  an  infirm  humanity.     Had  the 
naked'^Divinity  approached  hell  it  would  have  occasioned 
the  absolute  annihilation  of  evil  spirits.     But  through  the 
medium  of  a  humanity  assumed  on  the  plane  of  fallen  man, 
the  Lord  could  approach  hell,  and  by  receiving  its  tempta- 
tions  into  His  own  humanity,  overcome  them,  and  thus 
put  hell  forever  under  His  feet. 

We  are  told  that  the  Lord  was  tempted  in  all  points  as 
we  are,  yet  without  sin.    The  humanity  which  He  assumed 
being  taken  on  man's  plane,  necessarily  contained  all  the 
hereditary  infirmities  that  characterize  humanity  in  gen- 
eral.    As  evil  spirits  through  the  avenues  of  His  assumed 
humanity  fought  against  the  Lord,  He  subdued  them,  and 
removed  them  from  man.     In  this  way  He  put  man  in  a 
state  of  spiritual  equilibrium,  where  he  would  be  free  to 
turn  to  the  Lord  and  be  saved.     This  was  the  redemption 
which  God  wrought  through  Jesus  Christ,  a  redemption 
not  from  God's  wrath,  not  from  God's  justice,  not  from  the 
penalty  of  sin  while  the  sin  remained,  but  a  redemption 
from  the  power  of  hell.     "  For  this  purpose,"  says  the 
apostle,  "  was  the  Son  of  God  manifest,  that  he  might 
destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil." 

But  redemption  was  attended  by  the  work  of  at-one- 
ment.  By  at-onement  we  mean  that  the  human  essence 
in  Christ  was  united  to  the  Divine  essence.     This  was 


18 


REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 


effected  through  His  temptations.     As  evil  spirits  flowed 
in  with  their  temptations,  the  Lord  removed  them  by  put- 
ting away  from  His  humanity  the  hereditary  infirmities 
which  constituted  the  ground  of  His  temptations.     As  this 
was  done,  the  Divinity  from  within  descended  still  lower 
in  the  human,  until  it  was  fully  glorified.     St.  Paul  tells 
us  that  "  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  was  made  perfect 
through  suffering."     Through  His  redemption  and  at-onc- 
ment  a  new  and  eternal  medium  of  communication  was 
established  between  God  and  man.     God  in  a  Divine  hu- 
manity can  now  reach  man  on  the  very  lowest  plane  and 
communicate  His  saving  life  to  him.     He  is  God  on  our 
plane.     No  matter  how  evil  a  man  is,  he  need  not  wait  to 
make  himself  better.     All  that  he  need  do  is  to  look  to 
the  Divine  Christ  for  strength  to  overcome  his  evils,  and 
the  help  will  come,  for  Christ  is  God  on  every  plane  of 
human  life.     He  is  the  Jacob's  ladder,  reaching  from  the 
highest  heaven  to  the  lowest  condition  of  mankind.     God 
in  a  glorified  humanity  comes  down   to  man,  and  man 
through   the  same  glorified  human  goes  to  God.     Thus 
Christ  said,  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  Me." 
What  a  beautiful  doctrine  this  is  !     Christ,  or  the  glorified 
human,  becomes  the  mediator  between  the  Father  and 
man,  in  the  same  sense  that  our  bodies  mediate  between 
our  souls  and  the  world  around  us.     Such  was  the  doc- 
trine I  found  taught  in  Swedenborg  on  the  redemption 
and  at-onement  of  the   Lord  Jesus   Christ.     It  was  so 
rational,  clear,  and  beautifiil  that  as  a  rational  man  search- 
ing for  the  truth,  and  willing  to  follow  it  regardless  of  con- 
sequences, I  could  not  do  otherwise  than  accept  it, 

"  But  if  that  doctrine  is  true,"  says  one,  "  what  becomes 
of  the  death  of  Christ?"     We  remark,  in  the  first  place, 


♦ 


1M\ 


V 


f 


THE   DOCTRINES   OF   THE  NEW    CHURCH    19 

that  the  death  of  Christ  has  not  been  really  understood 
for  centuries  in  the  Christian  Church.     It  is   true  that 
the  Word  does  speak  of  the  death  of  Christ.     But  the 
Christian  Church  has  attached  a  meaning  to  His  death 
altogether  foreign  to  the  one  that  the  Word  of  God  seeks 
to  convey.     There  were  two  deaths  through  which  our 
Lord  passed.     The  first  was  a  death  to  the  infirmities 
which  in  His   humanity  He   derived  from  His  human 
mother.     Some  idea  of  this  death  may  be  gained  from  a 
study  of  Paul's  declaration,  "  I  die  daily,  yet  I  live."     St. 
Paul  died  daily  as  to  the  natural  man,  but  constantly 
lived  more  and  more  as  to  the  spiritual  man.     Now  if  we 
can  get  fixed  in  our  minds  the  fact  that  Christ  had  our 
nature;  that  while  He  had  a  Divine  Father,  yet  He  had 
a  human  mother,  and  from  her  derived  a  nature  in  com- 
mon with  our  own ;  for  the  apostle  says,  "  It  behooved 
Christ  to  be  made  in  all  things  like  unto  His  brethren,"— 
I  say,  if  we  can  hold  on  to  this  one  great  central  fact  in 
the  philosophy  of  the  Divine  incarnation,  we  can  see  how 
Christ  must  die  to  the  imperfections  and  infirmities  of  the 
earth-life  from  the  mother,  and  in  their  stead  bring  down 
the  Divine  life  from  the  Father  within  Him.     It  is  this 
truth  alone  that  explains  St.  Paul's  statement  with  regard 
to  Christ's  death,  "  In  that  He  died,  He  died  once  unto 
sin ;  but  in  that  He  now  liveth,  He  liveth  unto  God." 
As  Jesus  Christ  through  the  infinite  regeneration  of  His 
humanity  removed  the  merely  finite  and  imperfect  quali- 
ties from  His  humanity,  they  were  replaced  by  Divine 
substances  and  qualities  from  the  Godhead  within  Him,  so 
that  His  humanity  lived  unto  God,  and  became  the  per- 
fect exponent  of  the  Divine  Heart. 

His  physical  death,  or  what  is  termed  the  passion  of 


< 


S®?^*T^r' 


20 


REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 


the  cross,  which  in  the  current  theology  is  made  to  be  the 
whole  of  redemption,  was  simply  the  last  act  in  the  Divine 
plan  of  redemption,  being  also  the  last  temptation  He  en- 
dured as  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Without  this  suffer- 
ing and  death  the  world  could  not  have  been  saved. 
''  Without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  can  be  no  remis- 
sion of  sin."  Not  because  that  blood  wrou^irht  a  chancre 
in  the  Divine  mind  towards  man,  but  because  it  was  one 
of  the  cruelties  the  Lord  was  willins:  to  bear  in  order  that 
He  might  save  His  children.  But  we  must  bear  in  mind 
the  fact  that  the  physical  crucifixion  of  Christ  was  not 
redemption.  If  you  have  a  friend  overboard,  and  you 
plunge  into  the  water  to  rescue  him,  you  must  get  wet ; 
but  the  simple  act  of  getting  wet  is  not  the  thing  that  saves 
your  friend,  it  is  the  help  you  bring  him.  So  while  the 
salvation  of  man  involved  the  physical  death  of  Christ,  it 
was  no  more  the  whole  of  redemption  than  the  mere  act 
of  getting  wet  is  the  deliverance  of  your  drowning  friend. 
This  view  of  the  Lord's  death  does  not  cast  any  reflection 
upon  the  Divine  character,  but  shows  it  to  be  a  natural 
consequence  of  the  work  the  Lord  came  to  perform.  Suf- 
fering and  death  stood  between  Him  and  the  salvation  of 
man,  and  He  bore  it  for  man,  not  in  the  stead  of  man  as 
a  satisfaction  to  Divine  justice. 

But  the  perception  of  this  truth  put  me  in  a  position  to 
see  that  the  commonly  received  doctrine  of  justification  b}' 
faith  alone  was  false.  I  could  see  that  it  was  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  the  doctrine  of  the  tripersonality  of  God,  and 
the  vicarious  atonement,  as  held  in  the  old  theology.  Let 
me  state  this  doctrine  so  that  you  may  know  what  I  have 
rejected.  The  old  doctrine  is  as  follows  :  Man  was  placed 
under  the  moral  law  of  God  with  power  either  to  obey  or 


lifj^y. 


> 


^ 


( 


i 


'* 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH.    21 

disobey  it.     By  an  exercise  of  that  power  vouchsafed  to 
him  he  violated  this  moral  law,  and  in  so  doing  incurred 
the  righteous  indignation  of  God,  and  subjected  himself 
and  his  posterity  to  eternal  death  and  damnation.     The 
moral  law  demanded   satisfaction.     Some   one  must  die. 
It  made  no  difference  to  the  law  who  died  so  it  was  satis- 
fied.    When  this  crisis  came,  the  Son  of  God,  born  from 
eternity,  stepped  between  the  offended  Father  and  the  sin- 
ning  race  as  man's  substitute.     This  Son,  or  second  per- 
8on°in  the  Godhead,  was  punished  in  man's  stead,  or  in 
other  words,  was  accounted  guilty  in  man's  stead.     Not 
being  a  creature  such  as  man.  He  by  this  act  of  vicarious 
substitution  and  death  brought  to  Himself  infinite  merit 
and  righteousness.     Having  satisfied  all  the  claims  of  Di- 
vine justice,  the  law  now  has  no  further  claim  upon  those 
who  by  faith  alone  look  to  Him.     By  this  act  of  faith 
alone  in  Him,  the  Father  imputes  His  merit  and  righteous- 
ness to  man  and  accounts  him  righteous  ;  not  because  he  is 
righteous,  but  because  of  his  faith  in  His  Son. 

Such  is  the  prevalent  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith 
as  taught  in  the  old  theology.    When  I  began  the  study 
of  Swedenborg's  writings,  I  found  that  salvation  was  a  very 
different  thing  from  what  I  had  been  taught.     Salvation, 
according  to  Swedenborg,  is  made  to  be  the  soul's  absolute 
deliverance  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  sin.    Man  has 
nothing  good  in  or  of  himself     He  is  born  into  the  loves 
of  self  and  the  world.     He  can  only  be  raised  into  the 
spiritual  love  of  God  and  the  neighbor  by  having  the  sal- 
vation of  God  wrought  wtthiii  him,  not  outside  of  htm. 
He  has  no  power  to  do  this  work  of  himself;  he  therefore 
needs  a  Divine  Saviour.     The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  that 
Saviour.     To  come  into  a  state  of  justification,  man  must 


< 


^' 


22 


REASONS  FOR   EMBRACING 


not  only  have  faith,  but  he  must  keep  the  commandments. 
We  are  justified  in  the  sight  of  God  only  so  far  as  we  are 
just  By  disobedience  to  the  commandments  man  has 
made  himself  a  sinner,  and  he  can  be  saved  only  through 
his  obedience  to  the  very  laws  he  has  violated.  Thus  the 
Lord  said  to  the  young  ruler,  "  If  thou  wouldst  enter  into 
life  keep  the  commandments." 

I  found  in  Swedenborg's  writings  in  harmony  with  the 
Scriptures,  that  a  good  life  was  not  only  the  primary 
ground  of  salvation,  but  salvation  itself  I  found  that  sal- 
vation did  not  consist  in  being  admitted  into  heaven  by  an 
act  of  immediate  mercy,  but  in  a  heavenly  state  created 
in  the  soul  itself  I  found  that  man  must  actually  possess 
the  righteousness  by  which  he  is  justified  and  saved.  Ac- 
cording to  Swedenborg  this  process  is  wrought  in  the 
person  of  the  sinner  himself  According  to  the  old  the- 
ology it  is  wrought  outside  of  him,  in  and  through  the 
second  person  in  the  Godhead,  and  the  benefit  of  it  be- 
comes his  by  the  Father  imputing  it  to  him  in  considera- 
tion of  his  faith. 

It  is  impossible  for  man  to  retain  any  moral  quality  in 
the  spiritual  world  which  he  has  not  incorporated  into  his 
character  here.  The  righteousness  of  Christ  can,  there- 
fore, only  become  ours  when  by  doing  righteously  we 
make  it  our  own.  "  He  that  doeth  righteousness  is  right- 
eous," says  the  apostle.  This  he  can  only  do  by  humble 
and  sincere  obedience  to  the  law  of  God.  According  to 
Swedenborg,  Christ  did  not  come  to  keep  the  command- 
ments in  our  stead,  but  to  make  it  possible  for  us  to  keep 
them.  Man  cannot  keep  the  commandments  of  himself. 
He  needs  a  Divine  helper  to  sustain  him  in  his  efforts  to 
keep  them.     Thus  the  Lord  Jesus  is  ever  present  by  the 


^ 


^ 


i 


THE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH    23 

operation  of  His  Holy  Spirit  to  give  man  power  to  obey 
the  commandments,  and  thus  put  away  his  evils  and 
be  fitted  for  a  "  mansion  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens."  As  man  by  faith  and  obedience  co-oper- 
ates with  the  Lord,  he  is  more  and  more  regenerated  and 
justified,  and  finally  brought  into  perfect  harmony  with 
the  Divine  will,  not,  however,  by  the  imputed  benefits  of 
a  redemption  wrought  outside  of  him,  but  by  a  redemption 
and  at-onement  wrought  within  Him,  in  virtue  of  which 
he  is  united  to  the  Lord,  and  becomes  the  embodiment  of 
those  principles  and  qualities  which  alone  make  heaven. 

This,  to  me,  was  a  far  more  rational  doctrine  than  the 
old  one.  It  showed  me  that  faith  alone  had  no  place  in 
the  Divine  economy  of  salvation.  I  saw  that  heaven  was 
not  given  to  man  as  a  reward,  but  that  it  was  a  state  created 
in  the  soul  by  living  a  life  of  faith  and  charity.  Thus  I 
rejected  the  old  and  embraced  the  new  doctrine,  and  I  feel 
that  it  is  as  sound  as  the  eternal  throne. 

But  again.     As  to  the  doctrines  of  death,  resurrection, 
and  the  spiritual  world,  I  found  in  Swedenborg  that  they 
were  treated  of  so  beautifully,  rationally,  and  scripturally 
that  my  heart  naturally  opened  to  them.     In  Swedenborg  s 
writings  I  found  the  grand  truth  that  the  soul  was  an  or- 
ganized, spiritual  substance,  and  thus  possessed  the  humau 
form ;  that  the  material  body  was  only  the  instrument  of 
the  soul,  the  man  within  it ;  and  that  death  was  simply 
the  taking  down  of  man's  earthly  tabernacle,  and  a  birth 
into  the  spiritual  world  where   he  found  himself  in  a 
spiritual  body,  and  surrounded  with  beings  who  were  real 
and  substantial,  and  not  formless  phantoms  lingering  in 
some  limbo,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  their  material  bodies. 
I  found  that  this  doctrine  was  taught  all  through  the 


v.^- 


24 


REASONS  FOR  EMBRACING 


Scriptures.     I  had  found  the  true  doctrine,  and  the  Word 
was  in  harmony  with  it. 

When  the  Lord  was  questioned  on  this  doctrine  what 
did  He  teach  ?     He  said,  "  Concerning  the  resurrection  ye 
have  erred  ;  for  that  the  dead  are  raised  up."     Mark  His 
language,  "  are  raised  up,"  not,  shall  be  raised  up.     "  Even 
Moses  tauGrht  at  the  bush  when  he  called  the  Lord  the 
God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob ;  for  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the 
living."     If  this  answer  of  the  Lord  teaches  anything,  it 
certainly  teaches  that  all  who    have  died  are  raised  up. 
Why  should  He  mention  the  names  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  as  evidence  that  the  dead  are  raised  if  those 
men  had  not  already  been  resurrected?     Then  St.  Paul 
tells   us   that  *'  there    is  a  natural   body  and   there  is  a 
spiritual  body  ;"  and  that  *'  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God."     He  also  says,  "  If  this  earthly 
house  of  my  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  I  have  a  building 
of  God,  a  house  not  made  with   hands,   eternal  in  the 
heavens."     He  also  tells  us  that  in  the  spiritual  world  he 
'*  Shall  not  be  found  naked,  but  clothed  upon  with  his 
house  which  is  from  heaven."     St.  Paul  nowhere  teaches 
the  resurrection  of  the  material   body.     Death,  in  the 
writings  of  Swedenborg,  is  made  to  be  simply  a  step  in 
the  life  of  man.     The  spiritual  world  is  made  to  be  real,  a 
world  of  substance  and  forms,  and  not  a  refined  material 
world  located  somewhere  within  the  bounds  of  the  materia*^ 
universe.    When  man  enters  this  spiritual  world,  he  is  then 
and  there  judged  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body, 
and  if  he  is  good  he  is  taken  into  heaven ;  but  if  evil,  he 
finds  his  way  to  hell,  where  he  remains  to  all  eternity.     All 
judgment  takes  place  in  the  ''  world  of  spirits,"  or  that 


•«;   . 


•v 


\ 


I 

4 


y 


THE  DOCTRIKES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH.    25 

State  which  is  intermediate  between  heaven  and  hell ;  and 
that  iud-ment  does  not  consist  in  finding  out  how  many 
sins  mcn°have  committed,  but  what  their  real  character  is. 
God  does  not  keep  a  large  book  in  which  He  writes  down 
all  our  sins ;  but  we  are  keeping  a  book,  and  on  its  pages 
every  affection,  thought,  and  act  are  written.     That  book 
is  our  internal  memory,  and  it  will  be  opened  in  the  "  worid 
of  spirits,"  and  we  shall  be  judged  according  to  the  things 
that  we  have  written  in  our  book  of  life.     We  are  our  own 
book-keepers,  and  we  shall  carry  our  account  with  us  into 

the  spiritual  world. 

I  embraced  what  Swedenborg  taught  on  these  subjects 
because  it  was  in  harmony  with  reason,  revelation,  and  the 
intuitions  of  my  own  soul.     I  have  no  hesitancy  m  saying 
that  if  any  man,  with  sound  reason,  will  in  the  calm 
li<rht  of  reason  and  Divine  revelation  read  Swedenborg  s 
"Heaven  and  Hell,"  he  will  find  it  a  peari  of  great  price ; 
he  will  find  that  it  will  bring  the  shores  of  the  eternal 
worid  so  near  him  that  he  will  almost  be  able  to  look  into 
its  livin-  realities.     It  deals  with  the  highest  subjects  that 
ever  en  °a-ed  the  mind  of  man,  and  treats  them  in  a  way 
that  satisfies  the  highest  order  of  human  intelligence.     It 
deals  in  no  vain  speculations,  but  in  the  facts,  and  princi- 
ples, and  laws  that  pertain  only  to  a  true  system  of  spiritual 
psychology.     Read  it  carefully  and  prayerfully,  and  you 
will  find  what  I  say  to  be  true. 

In  closing  I  must  not  fail  to  present  to  you  my  reasons 
for  embracing  the  doctrine  concerning  the  sacred  Scriptures 
as  it  is  unfolded  in  the  writings  of  Swedenborg.  From 
my  infancy  I  was  taught  to  regard  the  Bible  as  the  Word 
of  God,  and  thus  I  always  had  the  most  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  holy  volume.     I  always  believed  in  it  as  a 


26 


REASONS  FOR  EMBRACING 


revelajtion  from  God ;  yet  I  did  not  know  why  it  waa  Di- 
vine, or  where  to  look  for  its  divinity.     But  when  I  met 
with  the  writings  of  Swedenborg,  my  reverence  for  it  was 
intensified.     I  saw  that  it  was  not  only  the  Word  of  God, 
but  that  it  was  Divine  truth  itself  let  down  to  man  in  that 
form.     The  grand  doctrine  of  the  New  Church  with  re- 
gard to  the  Bible  teaches  us  that  it  is  written  according 
to  the  law  of  correspondence  between  natural  and  spiritual 
things.     This  doctrine  may  seem  transcendental  at  first, 
but  a  little  thought  will  show  us  that  correspondence  is  the 
jssential  relation  existing  between  cause  and  efiect.     Crea- 
^ion  existed  first  subjectively  in  the  Divine  mind,  and  then, 
^y  an  actual  creation,  it  existed  objectively  out  of  Him. 
Every  object  in  the  created  universe,  therefore,  is  a  fixed 
f-rm  of  the  Divine  creative  thought.     The  Word  of  God, 
as  we  have  it  in  the  natural  world,  is  the  Divine  truth 
clothed  in  corresponding  natural  forms.     Consequently,  in 
every  part  of  the  Word  there  is  a  spiritual  sense.     This 
spiritual  sense  rests  upon  the  letter  as  its  ultimate  basis. 

By  a  knowledge  of  correspondences  we  can  see  a  clear 
and  consistent  spiritual  sense  running  through  the  whole 
Word.  The  early  chapters  of  Genesis,  read  according  to 
correspondences,  treat  not  of  the  creation  of  the  natural 
world,  but  of  the  spiritual  creation  of  the  first  race  of  men 
on  the  earth.  The  history  of  the  flood  and  Noah's  ark, 
when  read  according  to  this  science,  treats  not  of  a  delu'^e 
of  water,  but  the  decline  of  the  first  church  and  the  raisin"- 
up  of  another.  The  Word,  when  read  according  to  this 
science,  becomes  truly  a  Divine  book.  A  little  thouo-ht 
will  show  us  that  unless  the  Word  contains  a  spiritual  sense 
it  can  on  no  just  ground  be  called  Divine  and  a  revelation 
from  God.     When  we  speak  of  God  giving  us  a  revelation 


^■P^^^ 


^ 


J  HE-'-' 


1 

I 


f 


< 


TUE  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  NEW  CHURCH.    27 

from  Himself,  we  must  certainly  see  that  it  implies  some- 
thing that  comes  down  from  Him,  something  that  we  could 
never  have  discovered  by  the  exercise  of  any  faculties 
proper  to  ourselves.    Things  that  have  been  enacted  in  the 
natural  world  cannot  be  revelations  from  God,  and  the 
whole  Word  in  many  places  treats  entirely  of  matters  of 
natural  history.     There  must  be  something  more  than  the 
mere  facts  of  history  in  the  Word  or  it  is  not  Divine 
When  we  see  that  all  the  facts  of  natural  history  treateu 
of  in  the  Word  are  the  mere  outward  garments  of  spiritua. 
truths,  which  treat  of  the  Lord  and  His  kingdom,  then  it 
rises  above  time  and  location,  and  proves  itself  Divme.  ^ 

But  this  spiritual  sense  is  not  the  spiritualization  of  lU 
literal  sense.  The  literal  sense  stands  intact.  It  is  what 
lies  within  the  literal  sense.  The  literal  sense,  according 
to  Swedenborg,  is  the  basis,  continent,  and  firmament  of 
its  spiritual  sense.  It  is  a  doctrine  contained  in  Sweden- 
borg's  writings,  "  That  all  doctrine  must  be  drawn  from 
the°literal  sense  of  the  Word  and  confirmed  thereby." 

I  embraced  this  doctrine  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  be- 
cause I  saw  that  in  the  very  nature  of  things  it  must  be 
true.     It  gave  me  an  intelligent  idea  of  the  nature  of  Di- 
vine inspiration,  and  let  me  into  revelations  of  the  Divine 
wisdom  I  never  would  have  seen  without  it.    No  man  wno 
sees  the  Divine  Word  as  it  is  presented  to  the  world  m  the 
writings  of  Swedenborg  can  have  any  desire  to  deny  its  abso- 
lute plenary  inspiration.    I  come  into  the  New  Church  be- 
cause I  believe  her  doctrines  are  true  ;  not  invented  by  Swe- 
denborg, but  revealed  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  the  world 
through  him.     To  me  they  carry  the  awful  weight  ot  Di- 
vine authority.     I  come  because  I  desire  to  spend  and  bo 
spent  in  promulgating  the  blessed  truths  that  have  done 


28    THE  DOCTRINES   OE   THE  NEW   CHURCH, 

80  much  for  me.  May  I  prove  a  true  disciple  of  the  Lord^ 
and  by  means  of  the  truth  lead  to  the  good  of  life !  I 
think,  therefore,  in  view  of  the  reasons  given,  I  am  justi- 
fiable in  leaving  the  church  of  my  fathers  to  seek  a  mora 
congenial  home. 


'^ 


